


Road Rash and Rug Burn

by thenafics



Series: T's JayTim week 2019 [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:35:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21576934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenafics/pseuds/thenafics
Summary: Jason has a shoebox full of letters that he’s written to the soulmate he’s been waiting on for forever. He knows it’s silly and cliche, but Jason’s always been a romantic at heart despite Willis Todd’s attempts to beat it out of him. Someday Jason knows he’s going to find the match to the robin right over his heart. That someday may come sooner than later when the unlikely friend from childhood he thought he’d never see again bursts back into his life and drags him halfway across the country in what might be the strangest summer road trip of his life.JayTim week 2019- Love letter, passenger seat, innocence, childhood friends, soulmark/tattoo
Relationships: Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Series: T's JayTim week 2019 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1452400
Comments: 20
Kudos: 310





	Road Rash and Rug Burn

**Author's Note:**

> 🎵This was supposed to be short but its 4k🎵  
> I am very very late, but i'm hoping to finish all of these before 2020 starts!  
> The original tagline for this was "Tim is half snark, half caffeine, and one hundred percent done with Damian's BS"

Most days, Jason loves his job. Today is not most days. No, today he has to deal with the son of one of the richest men in the world being self righteous and insulting his classmate’s intelligence as well as Jason’s own. Jason can feel his building migraine increase with every tick of the clock past the scheduled meeting. The clock hands seems to be going slower than a snail as Jason waits for one of Damian’s older brothers to talk to him and clear this up. He’s torn between relief and annoyance that he won’t be having a parent teacher conference with Bruce Wayne. On one hand, he won’t have to look the man in those weirdly empty eyes and tell him that his kid is literally the rudest child Jason has ever had the dubious privilege of teaching. On the other hand, he won’t get to thank him for whatever witchcraft gave the kid such an excellent grasp of insults in both modern and Shakespearian vernacular. Maybe his brothers are more responsible for that. Jason hopes they are.

Ten minutes after the meeting is scheduled, Jason hears a knock on his classroom door. He hopes to god that it’s whichever of the kid’s siblings that was down as his third contact. The first two had gone direct to voicemail so Jason only feels a little bit guilty that he’d definitely woken up the third “Mr.Wayne,” that he’d called. The person who opens the door is much younger than he’d expected. He honestly looks closer to a college student having a finals breakdown than a member of the Gotham elite. He also looks incredibly familiar in a way that takes Jason a second to place.

“Tim?”

“Jason? You’re Damian’s teacher? I’m so sorry.”

“Ummm, yeah. Sure? I do not remember your last name being Wayne.” Jason remembers little Tim Drake from high school. They had been three years apart and somehow in the same class. Jason, Tim and Stephanie had been friends of a sort. Tim got bullied for being small and too smart and no one at Gotham prep could stand that Jason and Steph were there on scholarship from the bad part of town. Limited options meant that they’d ended up spending most of their lunch periods together in the AV room.

“I got adopted after my parents died.” Tim’s voice is more matter of fact than sad, but Jason still feels bad for having accidentally stepped into that particular trauma. There had been no love lost between his parents and him, but Jason knows that doesn’t make it hurt less. Jason had worked on more than one group project in the perpetually empty brownstone the youngest Drake had called home. The emptiness had been more suffocating than the cramped lower Gotham orphanage Jason lived in. 

“ How are you? I haven’t seen you since high school?” Maybe if he just keeps talking, he’ll get the conversation somewhere more pleasant.

“I’ve been doing alright. I work in research and development for Wayne tech. I come to parent teacher conferences for my obnoxious little brother.” Tim sports the sharp little smile Jason remembers from high school. It’s charming now that Tim has grown into his angular features. “How have you been Jason?”Jason flusters a little under Tim’s attention.

“I’ve been doing pretty well! I’ve been teaching here for a couple years now. Which brings me to the reason you’re here.” Jason hates to bring down the mood, but the janitors will yell at him if stays on campus after hours again, so he needs to finish this up. He hopes Tim has time to catch up with him later. 

Tim drops down into the chair across from Jason with a put upon sigh that captures Jason’s feelings on the matter pretty well. Jason can’t imagine that Damian is any easier to deal with at home than he is at school. The kid has a chip on his shoulder the size of a baby elephant.

“Damian’s a bright kid. I get that school might not be challenging him and that he feels talked down to, but he can’t go around calling his classmates “ ill bred, empty-headed demonstrations of the effects of the thoughtless being allowed to reproduce.” He especially can’t call teachers stuff like that.” Jason had managed to talk Mr. Jameson down from giving Damian Saturday school to just detention because Mr. Jameson is a total dick and the kid was right about him.

Tim drops his head down into his hands and looks up at Jason with a rueful smile.

“I’ll ask our older brother Dick to talk to him about it.” He runs one of his hands back through his hair. “Does he have any friends in class?”

“From what I can tell, just Colin and Mia, but he may have friends in other classes.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Tim brightens up a bit and asks “Hey, do you want to go get coffee and catch up?”

“You still a caffeine junkie?”

“I can stop anytime I want.”

They go for coffee and Jason finds out that not only does Tim still keep up with Steph, she’s his adopted sister’s soulmate. The story is the sweet, dreamy, happy ending Steph deserves. Jason makes Tim promise to bring Steph and his sister next time they hang out. Neither of them even considers there not being a next time. It’s easy to lose track of time with Tim’s laughter ringing in his ears while Jason tells him about Roy, his college roommate and best friend, setting the shower curtain on fire with whatever contraption he’d been making at the time. Hours pass so quickly in their little bubble of nostalgia that before either of them realizes, it’s closing time at the little cafe. Jason leaves with Tim’s contact information in his phone and a smile on his face. 

Steph knocks Jason clean off his feet with a hug when they see each other for the first time in years. He’s bulked up enough that it’s impressive for her to have been able to bowl him over. They end up tussling on the floor like children and laughing like loons in the entryway to Tim’s apartment. 

“Jason! It’s been so long.” She pushes herself up to look him in the eyes. ”Why didn’t you ever call?”

“Didn’t have a phone. By the time I had enough money to get one, I figured you probably changed your number.” Steph hugs him again.

“You are legally obligated to call me at least one time a week to make up for that.”

“Ha, will do. Are you gonna introduce me to your soulmate?”

Steph brightens at the thought and clambers off of Jason, leaving Tim to help him up. She drags over a girl who honestly looks like she could be Tim’s sister. They share the same raven hair, fox like features, and short stature. She looks small next to Steph, who inherited the valkyrie gene from some far off ancestors. Her warm brown eyes scan Jason with a penetrating stare and, for a moment, Jason feels like he’s been put through and x-ray machine. Then she smiles sweetly and holds out her hand for Jason to shake.

“Cass. Nice to meet you.” Her voice has the rasp of someone not used to speaking frequently that Jason recognizes from some of the kids back at the orphanage. He grabs the hand she’s offered, expecting a handshake, but she uses her surprisingly tight grip to pull him into a hug instead. Tim and Steph cackle at the look of surprise on her face as he hesitantly hugs back.

Cass and Jason get on well. She doesn’t talk a lot, but when she talks, it’s almost impossible not to listen. Cass is the perfect complement to Steph’s sometimes overwhelming chatter. Jason is amazed at how well they fit together, orbiting each other like binary stars. They wear their soulmark of matching magpies proudly. Steph’s perches above the crook of her elbow, head cocked to one side. Cass’s is nestled close against the right side of her throat. Jason feels a mix of happiness for his old friend and jealousy. He can’t help but think of the caged robin marked above his heart. They part with promises to see each other the next week.

When Jason gets home, he digs out the shoebox under his bed. For the first time in years he adds another letter to the box.

_ Dear Soulmate, _

_ Today I saw Tim and Steph for the first time in years. It brought me back so far to see them both again. They haven’t really changed that much. I didn’t realize how much I missed them both. Steph found her soulmate (Tim’s adopted sister) and I am truly happy for her, but I can’t help but be a little jealous. She and Cass are perfect for each other. I just wish I could find something like that. They seem so complete. I can tell Tim feels similarly. Every time one of them touches the other’s mark, he looks away. We’re getting to the point where almost every one our age has found their soulmate already and is settling down. Thirty seems to be the magic cut off point as far as soulmates go and we’re getting there soon. It’s great to see them again though, even if the reason I found Tim is because his little brother is insane. What a piece of work! _

_ I know it’s been so long since I’ve written, but I haven’t given up hope yet. _

_ Love, _

_ Jason _

With so many intervening years and Tim’s new businessy persona, it’s easy for Jason to forget that Tim is insane. He’s an absolute maniac who must be stopped and Jason is simply not up to the task. His resistance is futile when Tim bursts into his apartment the last month before school starts and tells Jason to pack his bags. It’s eight am, so some kind of miracle must have occurred for Tim to be awake, but Jason has already started his day. 

“We,” he says “are going on a road trip. Pack for five days. Bring a swimsuit.” Tim’s tone brooks no argument, but Jason tries anyways.

“Tim, what are you talking about? I can’t just leave for a week.”

“Five days. Did you have any plans?” 

“No,” Jason sputters, “But I have to get my lesson plans together. I haven’t had time since I was working summer classes.”

“My car has wifi, you can work while we drive.”

Jason packs enough for seven days and makes sure he has his passport and his health insurance card. Tim is crazy, he might need them. He sends a text to Roy and Kori letting them know he’ll be gone for the week and asks his neighbor to pick up his mail on the way out. The car, a cherry red four door corvette, is stocked with snacks and a whole case of the jet fuel energy drink Tim runs off. 

They’re almost two hours into the drive and well out of New Jersey before Jason even thinks to ask where they’re going. Tim turns to him with a manic smile.

“We are going to Disney world. Bruce is being an asshole, so I’m using his credit card and we are going to Disney World.”

“Won’t he be upset?”

“He’s rich Jason. Besides, that’s half the point. He’s making me show up to meetings instead of him, so the least he can do is pay for my vacation.”

By hour four they’re belting Abba songs out the rolled down windows of the car just outside Washington DC. They peel into the parking lot of the Natural History Museum going twenty miles over the speed limit, laughing like they’re half their age. They spend an hour in the gem room standing so closely that they bump shoulders. Tim ends up dragging Jason to some trendy cafe and buying them both overpriced lunch and coffee.

After DC, Tim drives for three more hours before Jason makes him pull over in Richmond. Tim is practically falling asleep at the wheel and Jason has had to pee since four exits ago. They get dinner and afterwards Jason drives the next three hours to Raleigh. 

The motel they stay in is just far enough on the acceptable side of sketchy to risk the pool. Jason wears a dark colored rash guard with his swim trunks to cover his soulmark and the mess of scars all over his torso from a less than stellar childhood. Showing your soulmark without having found the match isn’t uncommon anymore, but Jason wasn’t raised in the most progressive place, so he feels entitled to what’s a pretty harmless habit. Tim raises an eyebrow at his choice of swim wear, but doesn’t say anything.

Jason thinks he sees the edge of a soulmark peeking out from underneath the overlong hair that covers Tim’s neck. He doesn’t look too hard.

They pull over once in the five hours between Raleigh and Savannah to switch drivers at a rest stop. Jason comes back to the car with cold drinks and a jar of some weird kool-aid pickles the dinky little store had advertised as “made fresh on site!”. The pickles are disgusting, but the look on Tim’s face when he bites into it is worth the food waste. They wash away the cloying taste with icy cola and over processed snack cakes.

In Savannah, Jason makes Tim pull over so he can see the Mercer-Williams house. After, Tim drags Jason to some restaurant where they eat the best fried chicken Jason has consumed in his entire life. 

Tim naps the two hours to Jacksonville. Jason wakes him up at a truckstop to drink warm coke and eat convenience store sandwiches.

Jason sleeps the rest of the way to Orlando. They stop to buy groceries when Tim tells Jason the room has a kitchen because Jason refuses to let Tim spend money on room service breakfasts. 

He sleepily gathers up his stuff when they get out of the car and stumbles behind Tim while he checks them into the resort. The concierge personally leads them to a waterfront bungalow that is definitely fancier than any place Jason has ever slept in. There’s a waterfront view and a full kitchen, not to mention a private pool. Jason privately thinks to himself that Tim’s revenge spending is maybe a little extreme and also maybe not entirely for revenge. A room this nice was probably booked well in advance.

Even though there are two bedrooms, Jason and Tim both end up collapsing on one king sized bed.

Jason wakes up well before Tim and cooks. He makes omelettes and toast as well as coffee. Tim doesn’t stumble into the kitchen until the coffee has gone lukewarm. They’re both still in their jeans from the day before. Tim looks rumpled and adorable in a goblin kind of way. Jason fails to hide his smile at his uncoordinated bumbling and goes to shower.

By the time Jason has finished with the longest shower of his life, Tim has drunk most of the entire pot of coffee. He’s still practically asleep. It’s noon before Tim has actually showered and dressed for the day.

“I got the room for three more nights and park tickets for tomorrow and the day after. I figured maybe today we would just relax. How does that sound?”

“Like you planned this further in advance than I thought.”

“... Maybe.”

Jason makes Tim wake up early enough to get to the park at opening time the next day. He’s never been before and unless Tim snatches him up for another surprise invitation, his teacher’s salary means he probably won’t for a long time. Tim is still bleary until he gets an overpriced Disney themed coffee beverage from the coffee stand near the entrance. It’s kind of funny to see him in line along with all of the tired parents preparing to deal with over sugared children all day. 

After Tim has downed his coffee with alarming speed, he insists on dragging Jason to Space Mountain before the line gets too long. The muggy air carries the smell of cotton candy and everywhere Jason looks is thematically decorated. He’s so caught up in the brand new experience of it all that he doesn’t see the way Tim is looking at him. 

The photo of the ride captures Jason looking like an offended cat with Tim sitting next to him, cool as a cucumber. Tim takes a photo of the display screen to send to Steph. They get on some Buzz Lightyear themed shooting game ride next and Jason is proud to say that despite all of Tim’s video game prowess, he wins handily. Tim pouts and tells him it’s not a competition.

A few rides later, Jason goes to refill his water bottle and comes back to find Tim holding a gift shop bag. There’s a pair of what looks like plexiglass mickey ears perched on his head. Tim’s face lights up when he sees Jason.

“Jay, look!” He reaches up and fiddles with the center of the head band. “They light up!” Sure enough, the ears light up with flashing TIE fighters and laser blasts, visible even in the summer sun.

“Those are actually pretty cool.”

Tim beams and reaches into the bag. He pulls out a pair of Mickey ears that have Maleficent’s horns curling out from behind a huge bat shaped bow in the center.

“I got you a pair too!” He beckons for Jason to lean down enough for Tim to put them on. After he slides the band on, Tim runs his fingers through Jason’s bangs, fluffing them back up and revealing the silver streak Jason usually hides under the rest of his hair. Tim pulls at it a little and makes aquestioning noise.

“I know, I’m going grey before thirty,” Jason says with a wry smile “The kids at school have been telling me to dye all my hair that color. Or that I look like a skunk.”

“I think it makes you look like the Bride of Frankenstein. I like it.” Jason blushes furiously, but lets Tim arrange his hair however he wants, enjoying the feeling of fingers running through his hair. The softness of the moment is interrupted when a little kid bumps into the back of Jason’s knees, forcing him to stand up fully so as not to lose his balance. The kid’s mom retrieves him with an apology that Jason waves off. Kids run around and bump into stuff, it’s just what they do. 

Tim walks the rest of the way to the Jungle Cruise with his arm linked through Jason’s.

They ask a couple to take a photo of them in front of the Haunted Mansion ride. When Tim gets his phone back from the woman she tells him they “look so cute together.” Both of them flush and bluster, but not enough to correct her conclusion before she gets swallowed up in the crowd.

  
  


By the time they’ve eaten their fill of overpriced pretzels shaped like Mickey Mouse and gone through enough lines that Jason sees the neat little rows when he closes his eyes, it’s time to go back to the bungalow. They’re both droopy with sleep and bumping into each other with every step. Jason has to stop Tim’s ears from falling off his head more than once. It takes a good five minutes for them to get the door unlocked. They stumble off, to separate beds this time. Before Jason goes to sleep, he catches himself wishing Tim was laying next to him.

Jason gets so caught up in the whirlwind that is Tim and being the sole focus of Tim’s attention that when they finally pull up in front of his apartment, a day later than Tim said they would get back, he can’t believe this trip is over.

For three days his life goes back to normal. He wakes up early and works on lesson plans and his novel. He goes to bed after eating dinner and writing a letter to the soulmate he’s still holding out for. On day four, he opens his door at 5 pm to Tim on his doorstep holding a bunch of bright red carnations with a sheepish smile on his face.

“Steph told me I was maybe not being as straightforward as I should be.”

“Tim, what the hell are you talking about?”

“I had that trip planned for months.”

“That was pretty obvious once we got to the hotel Tim. Come on inside and tell me what’s up.”

Jason heads into the kitchen and pours two cups of coffee from the still warm pot on the counter. When he comes back into the living room, Tim is sitting on the edge of the couch. One of his legs is bouncing restlessly and he’s set the flowers down on the coffee table.

“Thanks for the coffee Jay.”

“No problem. Now why don’t you tell me what’s got you so nervous?”

Tim takes a deep breath and forcefully stills his bouncing leg with one hand. He won’t look Jason in the eye.

“I like you Jason. More than just a friend. I know you’re probably still waiting for your soulmate, and I don’t want to interfere with that, but until then…” The words seem to spill out from Tim’s lips without his say-so. “I didn’t realize how much I missed you and then I tried to show off like I always do, but I never told you in the first place. Steph said I should tell you I like you, well, probably love, but I don’t really know. It’s been a long time since Kon… “

“Tim,” Jason cuts him off before Tim can get deeper into his rambling. “Calm down, it’s ok. I, umm, like you too?”

“Is that a question?”

“No. Tim, I like you too. I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic,” Tim has the good graces to only huff out a bit of a laugh at that “but even I’m not enough of a fool to pass up someone amazing for a maybe.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“You know, I had the biggest crush on you in high school.”

“I bet it wasn’t as bad as the crush I had on you.”

They lean towards each other, caught in the gravity between them. All Jason can see is the ice blue of Tim’s eyes zeroed in on his own. Tim hesitantly brings a hand up to Jason’s cheek and jason rests his own over it. Neither of them can tell who makes the first move, but a moment later they’re kissing. Jason feels like someone has let loose a whole flock of doves inside his chest. Something about Tim’s lips on his feels incredibly right. The kiss stays relatively chaste even though they end up almost in each others laps. When Jason finally pulls away, he is practically straddling Tim. Tim lets out a little laugh and peppers Jason’s face in butterfly kisses.

“Not too bad for a bookworm.”

“Shut up, nerd.”

“Only if I can shut you up at the same time!”

Tim surges up and kisses Jason between giggles. Somewhere along the line, they both end up on the floor. When Jason brushes a hand against the nape of Tim’s neck, a shudder runs through Tim’s frame that makes them break apart.

“Are you okay Tim?”

“Yeah, it just felt really good when you touched my soul mark.”

“It’s on your neck? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.”

“Really? Here.” Tim turns on his side so that his back is to Jason and pulls up his long hair with one hand. There, nestled right over his spine, is a bird in a cage. More specifically Jason’s bird. The same caged bird that has sat over Jason’s heart since age 3 and given him comfort in dark times. He can’t stop himself from pressing a kiss over it on Tim’s heated skin, feeling some sort of weight finally settle in his chest as Tim gasps out his name.

“Hey Tim. I got some good news.”

Tim turns over in Jason’s arms to look at him. Jason struggles to pull off his t-shirt, exposing his own soul mark to Tim. The same sort of magnetism he had felt seems to be drawing Tim to his soul mark. When a cool hand presses over the mark, a rush of warmth surges through Jason so strong that he doesn’t even notice Tim whisper his name or bring his other hand up to cradle Jason’s cheek. As the wave of feeling dies down, he can feel the tears of joy dripping down his face.

They have their one year anniversary at Disneyland. When Tim gets down on one knee in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle, Jason cries and nods yes with a hand over his heart. 

**Author's Note:**

> i feel like I rushed the ending a bit, but overall I'm happy! I think I'll explore the idea of Jason writing letters to his soulmate in another fic because it's totally the kind of thing his dramatic ass would do (also I feel like I didn't use it enough here)
> 
> As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read! If you want some more of my little drabbles or you want to suggest something (or just scream at me), go check out my tumblr, @thenafics


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